A former rugby league superstar has partnered with a marine battery giant to challenge Australians to help eradicate cigarette butts from the ocean.

Cronulla Sharks legend and professional fisherman Andrew Ettingshausen has partnered with Century Batteries to spearhead a new anti-litter campaign in honour of a late friend.

Ettingshausen was friends with Clean Up Australia Day founder Ian Kiernan, who died in October, and decided to launch the campaign in his honour.

Professional fisherman Andrew Ettingshausen (pictured) has partnered with Century Batteries to spearhead a new anti-litter campaign in honour of a late friend

He said cigarette butts making it from the streets into the oceans is a worrying trend that needs to be addressed immediately

He said cigarette butts making it from the streets into the oceans is a worrying trend that needs to be addressed immediately, news.com.au reported.

Ettingshausen said it's estimated that as many as two-thirds of the butts from the 5.6trillion filtered cigarettes smoked in Australia every year make it into waterways and oceans.

'Every week when we take the boat or the 'Hobie' (kayak) out to film, not only do we come across rubbish from discarded bait bags or tangled fishing lines on the boat ramp and in carpark gutters, but it is nothing to see scattered butts everywhere,' he told news.com.au.